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Ben Arthur
AFC South Reporter
The road to the Super Bowl will go through Baltimore in the AFC. At least for now.
With three weeks left in the regular season, the Ravens have a one-game lead over the Miami Dolphins for the conference’s No. 1 seed and lone bye following their 23-7 Sunday night victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. With the Broncos and Steelers also losing this week, Baltimore (11-3) secured a playoff berth for the second straight year and for the fifth time in six years.
It’s impossible to ignore how Jaguars’ miscues made their job easier on Sunday.
The Ravens led 10-0 in the first half, but they could’ve been trailing entering the third quarter. The Jaguars (8-6) missed back-to-back field goals — both from 50-plus yards — then quarterback Trevor Lawrence somehow dropped the ball on a scramble in the red zone, which was recovered by the Ravens.
In a disastrous end to the first half for Jacksonville, Lawrence decided not to spike the ball after a 36-yard completion to receiver Zay Jones to get to the 5-yard line left about 12 seconds on the clock by the time the Jags got lined up again. Lawrence then erred in completing a pass to rookie Parker Washington, who was tackled in bounds. Jacksonville had no timeouts left and couldn’t get lined up in time for another play before halftime.
Lawrence later lost a second fumble after a strip sack from Ravens defensive tackle Justin Madubuike in the fourth quarter, when Jacksonville tried to rally down 20-7 with just over five minutes left.
Alas, a win is a win. And the Ravens have been getting a lot of those lately.
They’ve now won four straight and eight of their last nine, playing their best ball with the postseason fast approaching.
On Sunday, it was Lamar Jackson’s greatness that elevated the Ravens, with their offense playing below its standard points-wise (entered the game having scored 30 points in six of its last…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/ravens-control-destiny-for-afc-top-seed-jaguars-ineptitude
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Publish date : 2023-12-18 05:15:38
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